Girl Talk
by angellwings
Summary: My last prompt for a challenge I found on tumblr. Prompt: Lucy and Jiya talk about their guys and Jiya questions Lucy's feelings towards Wyatt


**A/N: So this is the last of the prompts I have on the list that I found and I have to say in just a few days everyone in this fandom has made me feel so welcome and I am very thankful for that! You've all been wonderful!**

 **Now that I'm done with this list though, I'd like to find another one so if anyone has any suggestions let me know. OR if you'd like to request a prompt feel free to find me on tumblr and send me an ask! I need more mutuals anyway. I'm prettybirdinfishnets on tumblr (because my first love is always Dinah Laurel Lance.) Feel free to look me up! I'd love to interact with some of you over there!**

 **Happy Reading!**

 **angellwings**

* * *

Jiya insisted that Lucy go ahead with her to the bar for after mission drinks. For once, Lucy was ready to go before Wyatt or Rufus. Which seemed suspicious. But Jiya whisked her away before she could really question it and now they were sitting in their usual booth, Jiya with her beer and Lucy slowly sipping her white wine.

"Okay, I've been dying to ask either you or Wyatt something," Jiya said suddenly.

Panic briefly gripped her. What could she possibly be asking? She remembered the look Jiya had given her when she'd found out Wyatt had told her about his plan to steal the time machine before hand. She obviously thought there was more going on than there was. Lucy nodded and tried to hide her worry as Jiya continued.

"What's Rufus like on a mission?"

Lucy breathed a sigh of relief. "He won't talk to you about it?"

"Oh no, he will. But he tends to downplay everything, you know? Like his contributions don't really matter to the big picture. Which I know is totally false. He's just...very self deprecating. So, since I can't get an accurate picture from my guy, I thought I'd ask you," Jiya asked with a soft smile.

Lucy nodded returned her smile. Jiya and Rufus were too adorable. Of course she'd tell her about Rufus. "He's the best of all three of us," Lucy answered honestly. "The most honorable and definitely the bravest. Our moral center, to be more accurate. Wyatt and I sometimes have a tendency to detach, for very different reasons. I need to see history as fixed and, in some ways, abstract. Wyatt needs to focus on the mission at hand. No distractions. But Rufus always cares about the people around us. He sees how our actions directly impact the innocent. Without him, the team just wouldn't work. He grounds us. So, he's definitely much more essential than he lets on, and I don't just mean because he's the pilot."

Jiya's eyes looked slightly misty when Lucy finally looked up at her. She took a deep breath and then simply said, "Thank you."

"Anytime," Lucy said with a friendly smile. Rufus means the world to her and Jiya means the world to him so when she said "anytime" she truly meant it.

"So," Jiya practically sang. "What's going on with you and Wyatt?"

Lucy nearly choked on her wine. The question felt so out of left field. "What?"

Jiya rolled her eyes. "I'm not blind, lady. There's something happening there."

She bit her bottom lip and hesitated to answer. This was normally a conversation she would have with Amy. But Amy wasn't here and, honestly, whatever she feels for Wyatt has been trapped in a jumble in her head for too long. Jiya is trustworthy and sweet, and if she's honest eerily similar to Amy. Lucy had long thought they would have been great friends.

"I have no idea," Lucy answered in a rush, as if she'd been barely holding in her thoughts. "We had a brief very vague talk the night that…" Lucy paused, unsure how to describe the night her mother revealed she was Rittenhouse.

"Everything went to hell in a handbasket?" Jiya offered sympathetically.

Lucy chuckled dryly and nodded. "Yeah, that about sums it up, but then things have been nonstop ever since and I'm not sure if…" she took a deep breath to push back her worries before she continued. "I'm not sure he meant it or if he was just caught up in the fear of goodbye. Which seems to be validated by his actions because now that we don't have to say goodbye it's almost like that talk never happened."

Jiya could sense there was more so she nudged Lucy's hand and met her eyes with a kind gaze. "And…?"

"And not long ago he was stealing a time machine in a desperate attempt to save the love of his life. I don't want something to happen just because he thinks he might lose me. I want him to be ready. Really ready. Because if he's not and it doesn't work out then I'm pretty sure it would break me," Lucy said with an emotional gulp. She gave Jiya a week smile and then took a long sip of her wine. "That's the first time I've said any of that outloud."

"How'd it feel?" Jiya asked with a friendly grin.

"Like a weight just lifted," Lucy told her before she gave Jiya's hand a brief but grateful squeeze. "Thank you."

"Anytime," Jiya said as she sincerely echoed Lucy's earlier statement. "For the record, I don't think the fear of saying goodbye was his only motivation. I'm sure it factored into it but the two of you have been through a lot since that first jump. You've got something special. We all see it. Well, Rufus and I see it. I'm not sure Agent Christopher or Mason are really paying much attention. It seems to me, his hesitance doesn't come from a _lack_ of fear. From what I've heard Wyatt's been in a holding pattern for years. I don't know the full situation but from the little I know from Rufus, he's been singularly focused on finding closure and has forgotten to actually live. It's gotta be scary to finally decide to have a life again. To be engaged in something besides combat. I don't think he's backed off because goodbye has been delayed. I think he's backed off because...he's not sure he can follow through or take the risk."

Lucy's eyes widened when Jiya finished and she found herself very impressed with her. She was almost as perceptive as Wyatt. But Jiya must have taken her silence to mean something else because she waved her hand dismissively and shrugged.

"But then you know him better than I do so I could be wrong."

"Actually, I think you're spot on," Lucy told her. Her brow furrowed slightly as she considered Jiya's words. She didn't often think of Wyatt as afraid. She'd seen fear on his face three times ever in all their missions. Once at the Alamo, once when they were stranded, and most recently when she'd asked him to leave her in the 1950s with Flynn. But this was a different kind of fear. It would leave him more vulnerable than she knew he would've liked so, of course, he'd keep it to himself. But maybe talking about it would help. Maybe she should push _very_ gently. Not toward any decision about her, but toward him finally reclaiming his life.

"There they are," Jiya said as she nodded her head toward the door.

She turned to look at them and knew immediately her earlier suspicions about them being up to something were totally valid. They each had their hands behind their backs as they approached the table and Jiya already wore an amused expression. There was only one thing, that this could be and she mentally prepared herself for it.

"Happy birthday!" Rufus shouted as soon as they reached the table. He placed a pink, sprinkle covered cupcake down in front of her. It had a singular candle jutting out of it at an odd angle and her initials written across it in purple frosting.

"You didn't tell us it was your birthday, ma'am," Wyatt said with a playful glare. "If it wasn't for Agent Christopher letting slip during the brief this morning we never would have known."

"That was sort of the point," she told the both of them with a chuckle. She wasn't exactly looking forward to this birthday considering she had no one to really celebrate it with.

"That will not do," Wyatt said as he Rufus sat down in the booth. He set horribly wrapped box down in front of her and then placed a party hat on her head. She gave him a flat bored look as he brought the elastic from the party hat down and around her chin with his trademark smirk never faltering. "There," he said as he sat back to observe his handiwork. "Adorable." He winked at her and finally her miffed facade fell and she laughed in embarrassment.

"I highly doubt that," she told him with a blush. "Really, you guys, you didn't have to do this."

"We know," Rufus told her with a bright smile. "We wanted to. You deserve it, Lucy."

Wyatt nodded his agreement and then pulled a lighter out of his pocket. "Time to make a wish."

She rolled her eyes at him and chuckled. "What am I? Eight? I don't need a birthday wish."

"Yeah, you do, it's tradition. As a historian and anthropologist, you should know this," Jiya said with a teasing grin. "What kind of professor are you, Preston?"

"I knew you were in on this," Lucy said as she pointed an accusing finger at Jiya. Jiya said nothing but smiled widely in response.

"Come on, Professor," Wyatt said as he bumped her shoulder. "Have a little fun. It won't kill you."

"Fine," Lucy said with a feigned air of resignation. "Light the damn candle, but if any one of you even _starts_ to sing 'Happy Birthday' I swear to you I will crawl under this table and never come out."

"Oh, in that case," Wyatt said as he opened his mouth to sing. She smacked his arm and laughed merrily.

"Jerk," she said through the remains of her laughter.

He smiled warmly at her and lit the candle. "Have at it, birthday girl."

She took a moment to glance around the table and found herself extremely grateful for these people. She planned to ignore her birthday because all it did was make her miss her sister and her mother more than she already did. Yes, her mother was Rittenhouse, but she was still her mother. It hurt to be alone on what should have been a special day.

But right now, she felt almost giddy for the first time in weeks. These three people had turned it all around for her with nothing more than a cupcake and a party hat. She knew exactly what to wish for. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, as she dared to think it.

 _I wish to have these people in my life always._

She opened her eyes and blew out the little candle with ease. "There," she said as she turned a playful glare on Wyatt. "You happy?"

He nodded and met her eyes with a meaningful glance. "Very."

She felt herself blushing again and couldn't help the bright smile that took over her face.

"Are you?" Wyatt asked her as he leaned into her space just slightly, as if he couldn't help himself.

She turned her smile to Rufus and Jiya before focusing it on him once more. "Yeah, I am."

"Good," Wyatt said with a soft smile of his own.

Jiya caught the smiles and lingering glances and looked at Rufus with a pointed expression. "You know, I need another beer and it looks like the Birthday girl needs another white wine. Why don't you help me carry them?"

Rufus smirked knowingly at Jiya and nodded. "Right and Wyatt and I still need drinks. What are you having, man?"

"Just a beer," he told Rufus with a flat look. They couldn't be more transparent if they tried.

As they walked away Wyatt chuckled and then smirked at Lucy.

"What?" Lucy asked curiously.

"Do you think they realize this place has wait staff?" He asked as he motioned to the dozen or so cocktail waitresses milling around.

Lucy laughed again and shook her head. "They do. They just don't care."

"I think they wanted to leave us alone," Wyatt added.

"I think you're probably right," Lucy said with a grin. "Really, though, thank you for the birthday mini party," she said as she motioned to the ridiculous party hat he'd placed on her head.

"You're very welcome," he responded as he took her hand in his and squeezed it gently. "I know what it's like to be alone on days like this so I get it. I wanted to spare you that as much as I could. Besides, another birthday means another reason to call you 'ma'am', right?" He asked with a teasing grin.

"Oh, my god," she said with a chuckle. "We were having such a nice moment and then you had to go and ruin it."

"Yeah, I guess I did kinda pull a Connor Mason, huh?" He asked her with a secretive grin.

She blushed again and grinned right back him. "Yeah, I guess you did."

"Listen, I'm sorry we haven't really had a chance to finish that particular discussion," He said as he looked away from her to stud their still joined hands. "We've been kinda busy and then I'm a little rusty at this dating thing. Not that I was ever good at it the first time around," he said with a soft self deprecating chuckle. "But I did mean it," he said as he adjusted their hands so that their fingers were interlocked. "Nothing has changed for me, but I'd understand, with all that you have going on, if you wanted some space. So, no pressure."

She shook her head at him and bent her head just enough to force him to meet her eyes. "I don't want space, Wyatt. Honestly, I think putting space between us would make all of this harder to deal with not easier. But I do want to make sure…" she paused as she tried to decide how to phrase her next sentence. "I do want to make sure that you're actually ready for this. You've been through a lot and no one would blame you, especially not me, if you needed more time to adjust. I'm not going anywhere. I don't want you to feel like if you don't do something now I might slip away because I won't. We're both here and it looks like we'll be here for a while so you can take as much time as you need."

"I don't need any more time," he said with a soft smile as he reached up tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "You're the first person in so long that makes me want to be close to someone again. As sappy as it sounds, you make me feel like I'm actually living my life not blindly marching through it. I don't want to give up you or that feeling any time soon. I want to follow this road with you, Lucy, and see where it leads. Starting now."

Lucy swallowed thickly before slowly beaming at him. She hadn't felt this happy in years. It made her realize she'd been unhappy longer than she knew. But none of that mattered at this particular moment because something very real and wonderful was happening right here and right now. "This turned out to be a much better birthday than I anticipated," she said as she took a deep calming breath. Her face was hot and she knew she was flushed. He'd just said everything she wanted to hear only he'd said it better than she could have ever imagined it.

He chuckled at her and put an arm around her shoulders, pulling her into place a lingering kiss on the top of her head. "Glad to hear it, babydoll."

"Can't wait to see what you do for the first date," she said with a pointed teasing grin. He froze and she saw his easy confidence falter in the face of nerves.

"I have to plan that now don't I?" He asked rhetorically.

She laughed and then squeezed his hand in a show of support. "No pressure or anything."


End file.
